By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXVI No. 9 – July 1, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: As of Aug. 1, Aetna will stop paying out-of-network pathologists for the professional component review of certain clinical pathology tests. Until now, the health insurer has paid for the professional component when out-of-network labs billed for clinical lab tests using the modifier 26. In a notice to labs, Aetna said it will pay
This is an excerpt from a 1,565-word article in the Feb.4 issue of THE DARK REPORT.
The full article is available to paid members of The Dark Intelligence Group.
CEO SUMMARY: With most hospitals now included as “applicable laboratories” in the PAMA Medicare price reporting guidelines and required to report their private payer lab test price data, this incisive
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXVI No. 2 – February 4, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Will clinical labs heed the lessons learned from the first PAMA private payer market price reporting cycle that CMS conducted in 2017? One major difference is that the definition of applicable laboratories now includes most hospital labs. This creates the opportunity for a larger number of clinical labs to submit their price data
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXVI No. 2 – February 4, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: It is ironic that, after the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) enacted the deepest price cuts to the Part B Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule in more than 50 years, a U.S. Senator now asks CMS why it will pay billions more for lab testing. The question from Iowa Senator Chuck
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXVI No. 1 – January 14, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: With so many market forces working against the economic interests of clinical laboratories, it is essential that all labs develop appropriate strategies designed to sustain the quality of laboratory testing services and the financial integrity of the laboratory organization. In this intelligence briefing, XIFIN, Inc.’s CEO, Lâle White, explains five strategies that are
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXIV, No. 14 – October 9, 2017 issue
Sept. 22 was the day that an agreement to sell Miraca Life Sciences (MLS) of Irving, Texas, was announced. Miraca Holdings will sell the anatomic pathology lab company to Avista Capital Partners. As part of the transaction, a new holding company, called Symphony Buyer, will be formed and will own MLS. Miraca Holdings will be
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXIV, No. 10 – July 17, 2017 issue
CEO SUMMARY: In five months, Medicare officials will implement a new Part B clinical laboratory fee schedule based on private payer lab price data submitted by certain medical laboratories required to report that data. At this year’s Executive War College, the CEO of XIFIN, Inc., reported on her company’s analysis of the payer price data
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXIV, No. 3 – February 21, 2017 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Following passage of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014, officials at PeaceHealth and PeaceHealth Laboratories began to model the financial effect this law would have on this long-established hospital lab outreach program. Based on projections of a 20% cut in revenue during the first two to three years of the Medicare
By Mary Van Doren, from the Volume XXIII, No. 16 - November 28, 2016 issue
This is an excerpt from a 2,700-word article in the November 28 issue of THE DARK REPORT. The complete article is available for a limited time to all readers, and available at all times to paid members of the Dark Intelligence Group.
CEO SUMMARY: THE DARK REPORT delivers the most detailed explanation ever offered of the payer-to-lab
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXIII, No. 16 - November 28, 2016 issue
CEO SUMMARY: In its work with more than 200 lab clients, XIFIN, Inc., of San Diego, sees the best and worst of problems in how labs submit claims to lab tests and how payers process these claims. In this exclusive interview, Lâle White, XIFIN’s Founder and CEO, identifies the systemic sources of problems in the
